Bicycle development has extensively evolved since its original development in the late 1800's. Now, bicycles have become known as a practical, cheap, and efficient mode of transportation. This evolution of bicycle development has included the development of different types of metal material particularly for use in the construction of the frame of the bicycle. These metal developments have been primarily targeted at producing a frame for a light weight bicycle that still has structural strength.
Despite these metal developments for the frame of the bicycle, less has been done to address the wheel of the bicycle and other light weight vehicles such as wheelchairs or carts. Instead, much of the early wheel development was focused primarily on heavy automobile wheels, e.g., trucks or cars, and primarily before the development of the modern day shock absorber and suspension systems. Examples of some of these early wheel development can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 8,655,115 by Markham titled "Wheel," U.S. Pat. No. 1,436,840 by Weirich titled "Vehicle Wheel," U.S. Pat. No. 1,550,596 by Velasco titled "Pneumatic Wheel," and U.S. Pat. No. 1,979,935 by Henap titled "Hydraulic Spoke Wheel." Although many of these wheels have shock absorbing designs using hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders, these wheels are heavy, bulky, expensive to manufacture, and lack effective aerodynamic design or construction. Accordingly, these are especially impractical for bicycle and other light weight vehicle design. Also, as set forth above, most heavy automobiles and other heavy vehicles have shock absorbing or other suspension systems to protect the vehicle and wheels from damage during travel over various terrains.
Because wheels for bicycles and other light-weight vehicles, however, have focused primarily on conventional bicycle wheel designs, e.g., a plurality of thin, spaced-apart spokes, there remains a need for an aerodynamic, light-weight, and effective wheel for these light-weight vehicles that is relatively less expensive to manufacture and yet has structural strength to withstand the stress of the weight of passenger over various terrain.